Posted April 2, 20169 yr We're now in the top half, have a 15 game unbeaten streak which is mathematically guaranteed to be the longest in the league this season, and are in 3rd in the league over that time with the best away record in the league. If we give priority to playing youth the rest of the season, we run a substantial risk of a lower mid table finish and finishing on bad form. Our remaining games are against very motivated teams vying for the title or for survival. On the other hand, it may be a while before there's this little at stake. Playing youth against top teams might be painful results wise, but it will let them experience playing top sides and make the mistakes that every player must make in order to really learn. It might even be good for their long term development if they experience getting demolished 0-6. So if you had to choose, which would you prefer: playing the usual starters and finishing in the top half with satisfactory form, or playing youth heavily and finishing ~14th with poor form and a couple embarrassing scores?
April 2, 20169 yr There's always the possibility that this is a false dichotomy and playing youth doesn't significantly (if at all) lessen our chances of winning matches.
April 2, 20169 yr Author There's always the possibility that this is a false dichotomy and playing youth doesn't significantly (if at all) lessen our chances of winning matches. True. You have to admit it's a substantial risk though. To be honest, if we play youth heavily the rest of the season and don't lose, it might be bad for their long term development and indicate that they're playing too cautiously and not experimenting. In the long run it's probably good for a player to experience a 0-6 loss and know that it's their fault. It might even be good for the club in the long run if we get beaten 0-6 with a youth lineup to stick with that lineup the following matches. It would be awfully painful to see us slip down the table after climbing up though.
April 2, 20169 yr I dont see how this is one or the other scenario. Our best attack includes Traore, our best midfiled includes Kenedy. With RLC and Miazga coming off the bench.  The best 18 includes all the youth players we should be playing.
April 3, 20169 yr Its a silly question. Play as many young players as we can get away with without being charged Edited April 3, 20169 yr by TheChelseaBlues
April 3, 20169 yr Bearing in mind how dire we were playing the senior team earlier in the season, surely playing the youngsters can't be classed as a weaker team. Play 4 or 5 of them for the rest of the season. Gives them good experience and hopefully a few, RLC, Traore etc will be in the team next season as well.
April 3, 20169 yr Youth. Poke the Europa league for all I care. More interested in a serious run at the top 4 next year with less distractions. Edited April 3, 20169 yr by Blue Exile
April 3, 20169 yr To be honest I think we will be better off longterm by playing youth, id also say missing out on europa league is a bonus, I personally couldnt care less about that competition and was very meh even when we won it with the fat spanish waiter.
April 3, 20169 yr We're now in the top half, have a 15 game unbeaten streak which is mathematically guaranteed to be the longest in the league this season, and are in 3rd in the league over that time with the best away record in the league. If we give priority to playing youth the rest of the season, we run a substantial risk of a lower mid table finish and finishing on bad form. Our remaining games are against very motivated teams vying for the title or for survival. On the other hand, it may be a while before there's this little at stake. Playing youth against top teams might be painful results wise, but it will let them experience playing top sides and make the mistakes that every player must make in order to really learn. It might even be good for their long term development if they experience getting demolished 0-6. So if you had to choose, which would you prefer: playing the usual starters and finishing in the top half with satisfactory form, or playing youth heavily and finishing ~14th with poor form and a couple embarrassing scores?  The thing is, it's not always 1 way or the other.. Who's to say we won't have a strong finish playing youth especially with how this season goes?  But if you meant for your question to be a standlone pov then it's difficult.. I mean I want to play youth but if we're destined to get a trashing just for the sake of some experience (bitter one at it) for them then I'm not sure whether that's good or bad for their development (mentally)..Â
April 3, 20169 yr Use the last seven games as a trial for next season,play a strong lineup but always including 3 young players playing in their strongest position as anymore than this can distort the teams preformance.
April 3, 20169 yr Play our youth, mixed in with some of our rare good first team players: Begovic Ania Maziga Terry Azpi Mikel Cesc Traore Rlc Willian/kenedy Costa/pato
April 5, 20169 yr I don't understand where all the hate comes from for the Europa League. Look at the quality of the teams left in it this year. It's an incredible competition and I would rather play and win it than participate in the League Cup or FA Cup. Â Strong finish for me. Get as high up the table as possible and see if we can slip into 6th.
April 5, 20169 yr I don't understand where all the hate comes from for the Europa League. Look at the quality of the teams left in it this year. It's an incredible competition and I would rather play and win it than participate in the League Cup or FA Cup. Â Strong finish for me. Get as high up the table as possible and see if we can slip into 6th. I don't think it's the competition as much as the time commitment vs payoff.
April 5, 20169 yr Playing youth just for the sake of it will ruin those young players' future. I think Gus is getting a good balance between youth and experience at moment, although I believe even our youth team would have given Villa a good game last Saturday.
April 6, 20169 yr Play youth but make sure we beat Tottenham and preferably beat Liverpool and Man City too.
April 7, 20169 yr I don't understand where all the hate comes from for the Europa League. Look at the quality of the teams left in it this year. It's an incredible competition and I would rather play and win it than participate in the League Cup or FA Cup.  Strong finish for me. Get as high up the table as possible and see if we can slip into 6th. Agreed, winning the UEFA in 2012 made us the first British club to complete a clean sweep of all 3 major European club trophies, and put us in a select club of only 3 others, Bayern, Ajax and Juve being the others.  I never go along with the thought that a particular trophy is worthless, after all those of us of a certain age would in all likelihood have given up a kidney for a League Cup 25 years ago.
April 7, 20169 yr My view is a mix of both, we are only 3 points off Europa League and I always want us to do the best we can do, however we really don't have anything to play for and these last 7 games should be about evaluating the squad.  We should be making a clear statement to the unwanted players that they will be moved on, Remy, Falcao (+?). There is no reason to be giving game time to these players whilst sidelining players we do want. Falcao shouldn't even be on the bench IMO. We are not paying £37 million to sign him permanently, why spend any of Traore's development time giving him minutes? What could Chelsea possibly gain from that? 2-3 more points really doesn't mean a lot this season, permanent development of Traore could save us £20-30 Million or earn us a similar amount.  Pato, looked good against Villa, we need to make a decision on him over the next 3 games (before Costa is back). Once Costa is back he should remain first choice with Traore pitching in. If Pato is going to be signed then fine, play him, if not all we are doing is providing some pre-season training and raising the value for Corinthians.  RLC, should be the first name on the team sheet. Lets try him out in the pivot and in the 10 position. He needs games and as shown he can play at least as well as Mikel, we know how good Mikel is, what he offers is a protective screen when we are trying to see out games. That's not what we need to care about at the moment.  Baba, get him playing regularly. He won't learn with 20 minutes here and there, he needs a run and he needs to earn that confidence. Get Dave back on the RHS and use Ivan/Cahill in the centre.  Lets not go overboard and throw the baby out with the bathwater, we dont need to play a full 11 of academy players, but we should have a greater appetite for risk than we have ever had before under any manager.
April 7, 20169 yr There's nothing wrong with the Europa League.  There are many saying that having to play Thursday night games will affect our run for a Top 4 position next season. You do realise that the EL winners get a Champions League spot? There are many teams that play in Europe and still manage to achieve top 4.  Forgetting that for a moment, winning the Europa League was one of my favourite nights in a long time supporting Chelsea. Winning the League Cup and FA Cup is fantastic too, but winning another European trophy was something else.  I can't stand fans who think of it as a lesser competition. Dortmund, Lazio, Manchester United, Liverpool, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia, Spurs, Fiorentina, Olympiacos, Galatasary, Marseille, Porto, Schalke, Ajax....  These are all huge clubs and I count Chelsea fortunate to be mixing with them.
April 7, 20169 yr Playing youth at this point can benefit us in the long run. However you can't just play youth and expect them to learn that way. You need a mix of youth with experience for it to be fruitful. Traore, Ruben and Kenedy really needs to play all these games. They are pretty close on making the starting eleven anyway for next season. Edited April 7, 20169 yr by evissy
April 7, 20169 yr There's nothing wrong with the Europa League.  There are many saying that having to play Thursday night games will affect our run for a Top 4 position next season. You do realise that the EL winners get a Champions League spot? There are many teams that play in Europe and still manage to achieve top 4.  Forgetting that for a moment, winning the Europa League was one of my favourite nights in a long time supporting Chelsea. Winning the League Cup and FA Cup is fantastic too, but winning another European trophy was something else.  I can't stand fans who think of it as a lesser competition. Dortmund, Lazio, Manchester United, Liverpool, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia, Spurs, Fiorentina, Olympiacos, Galatasary, Marseille, Porto, Schalke, Ajax....  These are all huge clubs and I count Chelsea fortunate to be mixing with them. Your finest piece of work
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